Buying a fox from Ohio. Rust Concerns.

[gamegenie0]

Hey. I live in South Carolina and can't find a decent fox mustang to save my life. I found a nice looking one in Ohio and dont mind traveling to get it. But my main concern is the rust underneath the car. its only got 40000 miles and looks great. I had the owner send me some undercarriage pics. I am just wondering if the rust that I see will be a problem, or if it is just surface rust that i can brush away and repaint. Main concern being under the hatch by the license plate( also between the hatch gasket), the rear end housing, and random components. The floor panels look unaffected. But I would like to clean the rust and repaint like it was never there. is this doable? Pics:

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

I bet if you pulled that hatch gasket off, that entire lip around the hatch is rotted to hell and back. I bet the under side of the hatch itself is gone too. If it's a GT, you can never be sure what's behind the ground effects. The thing about rust belt cars is, they're either rusty or they're not, there isn't anything more behind it than that. My coupe lived its life in KY/OH and is about 98% rust free. This car on the other hand has a fraction of the miles that my car has but looks like it could have issues.

 

[Shakerhood]

For that few of miles it should not have any rust, but those pics would make me a little nervous.

 

[citmov]

Tell him to take pics of the entire underneath with the car up in the air or on ramps or something. You gotta check the frame rails and all the parts underneath that you can't see. That's the only way to do it.

 

[tannerc91gt]

I honestly wouldn't recommend buying a car from up here. The rust gets ridiculous

 

[StreetsideStig]

I agree with Citmov. It's the frame you really have to worry about.

 

[hsean]

i got burned buying a car from new jersey the guy took pics underneath and it looked like surface rust .when you pop the hood the framerails were gone.my second car i bought from ohio and had my reservations and i had the guy take detailed pics and sure enough the car was clean.this car might be good but like was said above the framerails on these cars are notorious for rotting out all the way to the firewall.